Hey Everyone!
The other day, The New York Times wrote a piece titled “Reasons Not to Stretch.” You can link to it here. The article cites a number of studies demonstrating that static stretching before a workout will actually diminish your performance. They link to a “bogglingly comprehensive re-analysis of data” published in The Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports that presents “a growing scientific consensus that pre-exercise stretching is generally unnecessary and likely counterproductive.”
Do we agree?
In fact, we do.
In this video, I give you specific reasons why static stretching before a workout is a bad idea. In fact, we are not huge proponents of static stretching at all here at Pursuit Athletic Performance. Stretching is really about restoring muscular balance in the body—front/back, in/out, and side-to-side— in order to enhance more efficient movement. AND, it’s likely different for each person.
I encourage all of you to think about working out a plan for how YOU need to restore muscular balance based on your particular strengths and weaknesses. There are a few stretches I think 99% of all runners likely need to do, and I review them here. But, in general, smart, effective stretching should be a lot more of a personalized endeavor than many of you have been led to believe.
Dr. Kurt Strecker
